Spanish & Portuguese Harpsichord

Sophie Yates’s 1993 debut CD offered a fine selection of French Baroque harpsichord music. For this second disc she has turned her attention south to Spain and Portugal and back to the 16th as well as 17th century. The repertoire, though less familiar, is certainly attractive – delightful examples of tiento and diferencias by Cabezón; Coelho’s compelling Segunda Susana; the ornate traceries of Ximénez and Cabanilles. And all played with a graceful eloquence that is quietly impressive.

Manuel Blasco de Nebra - Sonatas & Pastorelas - Carole Cerasi (2003) {Metronome MET CD 1064}
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© 2003 Metronome Recordings | MET CD 1064
Classical / 18th Century / Period Instruments / Fortepiano / Harpsichord

Manuel Orlandi Blasco de Nebra figures among the most talented musicians of the 18th century Spain. He studied in Seville and in Madrid. Son and apprentice of José Blasco de Nebra, the organist of the Seville Cathedral since 1735, he composed over 170 works for keyboard instruments, about 30 of which are still in existence. As well as his talent for playing the organ, the fortepiano and the harpsichord, Manuel Blasco de Nebra’s excellent prima vista (or sight-reading: the ability to perform a piece of music upon reading it for the first time) was well-renowned. Heir to Domenico Scarlatti in many respects, Manuel Blasco de Nebra was a creative genius whose life was too short – he died aged 34 – to get the recognition that he deserved; his compositions have since his lifetime been overshadowed by the reputation of Domenico Scarlatti.

The Spanish and Portuguese influence in Domenico Scarlatti’s rhythms and, perhaps to a lesser extent, melodies are distinctive features of his keyboard style. Sophie Yates has chosen these evocative gestures in Scarlatti’s sonatas as determining characteristics of her recital Fandango – Scarlatti in Iberia. In fact, only four of the 13 items in her programme are by Scarlatti himself, the remaining pieces being by José Larrañaga, Seixas, Sebastian Albero y Añaños, and Soler, whose colourful ‘Fandango’ concludes her disc. Readers who know their Scarlatti will not need to be reminded either of the bold originality or of the wonderful variety of colours and sentiments present in his harpsichord sonatas.

This musical journey takes its title from one of William Corbett's Bizzarie universali, a set of concertos which, in truth, owe much more to the Italian tradition than to the Iberian peninsula.